The chapters from 'Miscarriages of Justice', by Bob Woffinden that cover the Guildford Four, the Maguire Family, and the Birmingham Six. This was published just before the acquittals, so if anyone has better up to date recommendations that cover issues in a similar way (ie pick the fork apart the court cases for the awfulness they were) i'd really appreciate it.

_________________"I will take a drugged, sex-crazed, punk rock commie over Mrs. Thatch any day of the week" - Vantine

I'm taking a course now that talks about the feminist blogosphere and non-academic books (we're going to be reading Gaga Feminism later) so I'm a bit curious about that one, since from what I heard its a mix of what's good about mainstream feminist books and whats bad. We were talking a bit yesterday about continuing problems with intersectionality and she was the first one I thought of as an example.

Okay, I actually finished awhile ago but haven't thought to update this until now.

This is not a book without problems. However, I really liked it. And I honestly think that criticisms re: intersectionality would be out of place. This is a memoir interwoven with non-academic feminist theory. It tells the story of how this particular working class white Irish girl growing up in in England became a ballsy, hilarious feminist woman. She locates herself early on and I think that continual nods to intersectionality beyond her own experience would have been inappropriate for the style of writing.

It won't speak to everyone, and that's okay! I think she does an amazing job of taking really common events (bra shopping, weddings, abortions) and uses them to illustrate how desperately we still need feminism.

And, again, it's hilarious! And how often do you laugh out loud while reading a feminist text?

I'm now reading Valenti's Why Have Kids?

_________________"I'd rather have dried catshit! I'd rather have astroturf! I'd rather have an igloo!"~Isa

"But really, anyone willing to dangle their baby in front of a crocodile is A-OK in my book."~SSD

Just finished Warren Ellis' Gun Machine. His super fun writing style made for very entertaining reading, creating the perfect balance between the rising tension & quite gory murder scenes on the one hand and some really crazy similes and silly dialogues on the other. And it even managed to satisfy that little voice at the back of my mind that kept insisting the story would be so much more fun if there was at least a teeny tiny supernatural element in it. Really liked the ending, even though at some point I feared I somehow wouldn't. Big recommendation for people who want a detective story with quirky characters and a bit of splatter on the side.

_________________"If I were M. de la Viandeviande, I would now write a thirteen page post about how you have to have free will to be vegan, but modern science does not suggest any evidence for free will, therefore it is impossible to be vegan." -mumbles

I finished The Devil and Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book full of cold case investigations, but it turned out to be a little of that, a little bit of writing on "mysterious" things (giant squid, for example), and a little bit about crime (organised crime and criminals with CIA ties). It was alright, though I skipped a few bits (the squid thing and a story about a baseball player who referred to himself in the 3rd person). I dunno, I can't really say I'd recommend it.

Now I'm reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I think was a recommendation from this thread (but possibly this thread on the old boards - I've had it on my list for a while).

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I finished The Devil and Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book full of cold case investigations, but it turned out to be a little of that, a little bit of writing on "mysterious" things (giant squid, for example), and a little bit about crime (organised crime and criminals with CIA ties). It was alright, though I skipped a few bits (the squid thing and a story about a baseball player who referred to himself in the 3rd person). I dunno, I can't really say I'd recommend it.

I really liked that book- I thought all the stories were interesting. Haha, and that baseball player is Rickey Henderson, he's hilarious.

_________________"If I were M. de la Viandeviande, I would now write a thirteen page post about how you have to have free will to be vegan, but modern science does not suggest any evidence for free will, therefore it is impossible to be vegan." -mumbles

So I finished one of my books of FSF criticism and one essay was particularly brilliant and illuminating to me - by W.J. Harvey entitled Theme and Texture in 'The Great Gatsby'. It was a discussion of the ship/sea imagery in the novel and "restless" "drifting" type language throughout. I always saw the novel's last line: "And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," as mostly a nod to Gatsby's romantic longing being "already behind him" and an apt takeaway image that succinctly sums up a major theme of the book, but this essay illuminates how perfect that last line is to sum up everything that came before and how the restless, drifting sea stuff is embedded and builds throughout the novel. Just another artistic dimension of this book that I never really pondered on my own and ratchets up my admiration for how truly accomplished and masterful it is.

Finished The Evening Hour last night. It must have at least been absorbing, because it only took me two days to read it, and it's not short. It's weird...I'm from and currently reside in West Virginia, so I know a lot about its people and heritage, but I didn't grow up in the way that is typically depicted in books about this place. I'm just outside of coal country, and I know people who live there and grew up there and I've visited and know what's up, so I feel a definite sympathy for the characters in these books that I read, even though I'm not technically a part of it. Anyway, a lot of it was about mountaintop removal which is JUST HORRIBLE and also it was about the growing prescription pill and meth problem here, which is sad and awful. So basically, the book made me feel sad and awful, but I'm glad I read it. I worry that someone who isn't from WV and doesn't understand that there are more parts to it other than coal country would think that we're all uneducated and a little backwards, even if we are kind and generally good people. Same old shiitake stereotype that is always perpetuated. Can you tell that I can't really decide if I liked it or not?.

I will definitely add The Evening Hour to my list, even though I'm the same way, and it'll make me sad. Still there's just something special about WV; I just hope it's not completely lost with all of the 'development.'

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:36 pmPosts: 1693Location: the land of too much wine and wind

I finished A Feast for Crows yesterday morning, and I'm going to try to get a good start on A Dance with Dragons today. Each book in this series is going faster than the last, and since Dragons focuses more on some of my favorite characters in the series, I suspect it will be a fairly quick read.

_________________I just brought out the carrot sticks. This is war. - paprikapapaya

Continuing with reading books that I've been meaning to read forever. I just finished The Children of Men and am now halfway through I Am Legend. A Wrinkle in Time is up next. It helps that they are actually good books and fairly short.

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my childhood favorites! I hope you like it.

_________________But if one were to tickle Pluto, I suspect that it might very quietly laugh. - pandacookie

55k usd is like 4 cad or whatever equivalent in beavers you use on the island - joshua

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:36 pmPosts: 1693Location: the land of too much wine and wind

allularpunk wrote:

fruitbat wrote:

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my childhood favorites! I hope you like it.

Ditto! I've read it countless times and was mildly obsessed with anything Madeleine L'Engle wrote for many years. I'm pretty sure her books started my unconditional love for YA literature and fascination for science I don't quite understand. I still have most of them!

_________________I just brought out the carrot sticks. This is war. - paprikapapaya

I got the go ahead from a professor, I can write my religion and pop culture paper on religious female empowerment in unicorn narratives. So I'm reading The Natural History Of Unicorns by Chris Lavers before I consume unicorn children's books. :3 best project evaaaar

_________________I was really surprised the first time I saw a penis. After those banana tutorials, I was expecting something so different. -Tofulish